Casey explains Blunt amendment vote

Published by Tim McNulty on Thursday, 01 March 2012 2:22 pm.

Sen. Bob Casey has been distancing himself lately from the Obama administration on contraception, and today he took it a step further, joined just two other Democrats in supporting a GOP measure allowing employers to opt out of medical coverage against their moral beliefs.

The amendment from Missouri conservative Roy Blunt was only barely voted down, 51-48. Here's Casey statement on the vote:

"As I have made clear continuously, I strongly support contraceptives and have voted to provide funding for family planning but I also believe that religiously-affiliated institutions should not be forced by the government to violate their beliefs. I appreciate the spirit of the Administration's announcement on contraceptives and the attempt to satisfy concerns on both sides of this issue, but it does not go far enough to ensure that this ruling doesn’t infringe upon religious liberties. I am hopeful that the Administration now recognizes the imperative of clarifying the rule to ensure that it protects religious liberties while making contraceptive insurance available."

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